Adjustable heel for shoes.



PATENTED MAR. 15, 1904.

A. WESTWOOD.

ADJUSTABLE HEEL FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented March 15, 1904.-

PATENT OFFICE.

TO ISAAC FIEL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ADJUSTABLE HEEL FOYR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,947, dated March 15, 1904.

Application filed August 5, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMos Wnsrwoo a citizen of the United States of America,and a resident of the city of Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California,have invented anew and useful Improvement in Adjustable Heels for Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class or description of heel which is provided with a separate and adjustable tread or bottom piece capable of being rotated or turned on a center-pin as the surfacenext the ground wears away on one side, and thereby preserve a flat and even bottom face at all times.

The present improvement comprises an adjustable tread or bottom piece of novel construction and in combination therewith an improved construction of heel-body and interlocking plates and their combination with the tread, all as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claim at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a parthereof, the same parts in the several views are indicated by corresponding letters of reference.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe, showing the heel and section, in which the body and tread are formed of leather or similar material and the locking-plates of rubber. Fig. 2 is a similar sectional View with the center-bolt removed and the parts separated. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the interlocking plate on the heel-body. Fig. 4 is a plan or top view of the locking-plate on the adjustable tread. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of Fig. 4E.

The body or main portion of the heel is formed of leather and secured to the sole of the shoe in the usual manner; but it can also be molded of some plastic composition, such, for example, as rubber-heels are made of at the present time. This body is indicated in the drawings by the letter a. The bottom piece (seen at b) constituting the tread or wearing surface is a circular pad separately formed of leather or like unyielding material. The two parts a Z) are fastened together by a Serial No. 118,434. (No model.)

circular boss 0, formed integrally with a lift 0, of resilient material, secured to the tread, said boss fitting closely in a recess on a lift d, of resilient material, secured to the heel-body. The tread is held from turning by interlocking grooves and ribs in the bottom of the recess and the face of the boss. A center-bolt e, for which apertures 11 n are provided in the center of the parts a b, fastens the parts together and also forms the center for the tread b to turn on when it is adjusted in another position.

A threaded plate or nut h is fixed in the heelbody to take the end of the bolt, and the holes for the bolt are usually lined with a metal tube or bushing i to keep the holes from closing tightly around the bolt and to allow the latter to be easily inserted and removed. When the part b is drawn to place by the bolt, the ribs and grooves interlocking form a close joint between the tread and the body, holding the tread firmly in place and preventing it from rotating and working loose. Both the face of the boss 0 and the bottom of the recess have V-shaped grooves running from the center radially outward, forming alternating angular ridges f and depressions g of corresponding size, which when brought together interlock and prevent one part from turning on the other, and by making these interlocking faces or parts of rubber I find that they can be made to fit more accurately and produce a closer joint than if they are made of leather. As they are not exposed to wear, it will be evident that they can be made quite thin, and not being required to sustain great strain they can be secured to the leather body and the leather tread, where the latter is formed of leather, either by cementing or nailing them in place.

Many persons object to rubber heels and rubber treads and demand a leather tread or bottom surface on their heels, and for those persons my construction provides a rotatablyadjustable tread of leather, with a secure and resilient locking device.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An adjustable-tread heel comprising a heelbody, an interlocking plate of resilient material permanently secured to the bottom face of the body said plate having a central aperture, a circular recess surrounding said aperture, alternating radial ribs and depressions in said recess; a removable and adjustable tread composed of a circular pad, and an interlocking plate of resilient material secured permanently to one face thereof, said plate having a central aperture and a circular boss surrounding said aperture, alternating radial ribs 

